| |
Prop 8 Rally
Tonight I showed up to demonstrate that I am not in favor of discrimination. You wouldn”t think you”d have to show up somewhere to do that, but apparently you do.
Here are some quick, late-night thoughts and images from the event.
The rally was powered by a serious, positive quality of energy. An orderly crowd listened intently; most looking for some hope, something that might help them rebound from the harsh reality that so many people across this state somehow view them as less-than. Strangers helped me to climb walls so that I could get a better view and coverage and, although it was hugely crowded, everyone was mindful and polite. The fact that this community of people has been put on the defense; has been forced to spend time and money urging the state of CA to vote “no” against someone taking away their rights constitutionally vs. “yes” to officially acknowledging those rights; has outraged me from the start.
The portion of the speech you are hearing is the only portion I witnessed that garnered boos. Statistically (depending on which resources you cite) over half of the funding for the discriminatory Proposition 8 campaign came from The Mormon Church. We”re talking millions and millions of dollars and a public campaign preached congregation to congregation. We”re talking propaganda full of lies and an instance of heavy influence. No matter how good an organization”s intentions are or the quality of their global congregation (many of whom are not at all pleased with these hateful shenanigans), at some point that organization is likely to become overzealous. Historically this has been an issue in many religions and The Mormon Church has clearly overstepped its bounds in this case. We live in a country that has a separation of church and state, period. Denying consenting adults the right to marry as their peers do is unconstitutional. The courts here have already ruled so, and will rule so again. In the future we will look back on this as we do the time when blacks and whites were prohibited from using the same water fountain, and the time when women were not allowed to vote. In the meantime, we wait for the poison of sexism, racism and other forms of persecution and discrimination to die out and fade in favor of what this country was founded on: equality i.e. "created equal."
It”s a constant battle to live up to that ideal, even our founders struggled. But it”s a great ideal; one worth striving for everyday. And anyway I”m sorry to report that a church organization who has had some scandalous polygamy issues that were compared to “legalized slavery” as recent as the 20th century in such a way reminiscent of old skool Medieval Dark Ages might not go around wagging its moral tongue and undermining all the wonderful, legal, non-hateful qualities it”s modern members have to share and have shared, thankyouverymuch.
Hey also guess what homosexuality is way older than our constitution, so get over yourselves. Your ancestors were probably all homosexual with some other people”s ancestors. People have been gay and loving it for ages just like people have been non-gay and loving it for ages. You can”t own love just like you can”t own Jesus or marriage or whatever other ideal you want to own. Life really is unfair that way, but take it on the chin: I'm pretty sure you'll be fine.
And seriously, pals, after all this time, after all these historical lessons; this entry should not be required. The bottom line is that it doesn”t matter how you feel about gays, gay sex or gay marriage just like it doesn”t matter how you feel about Catholics or Jews or strippers or divorcees or interracial couples or blondes or Eagles fans or people who are professional bakers and paint their fingernails blue: Just because you don”t agree with someone”s harmless opinion, innate qualities or personal lifestyle choices does not give you the authority to take their rights away. And just because someone else has the right to do something, well that doesn”t mean that you have to do it, or that it affects your pursuit of happiness. You are not being denied rights: You are the denier. Allowing fear to so overcome you that you would vote against love is a lot ridiculous. It”s unwise. It”s evil. I have yet to hear a worthy argument in favor of preventing gay marriage. (That”s because there isn”t one, really. No really; there isn”t.)
So yeah, you -- put it in the book: JSto: not a fan of discrimination.
The revolution is all around, happening now: where were you?
Comments (2) | Permanent Link | RSS
|
|
|
